How the Xylophone Came to Be
by Frozen-TARDIS89
Summary: This is a story about the origins of the Xylophone. It's basically a children's story. This is FICTIONAL. Take that in mind. And PLEASE let me know if there are any errors, I wrote this a year ago for a term paper. So of course I rushed it. Thanks for reading!


How the Xylophone Came to Be

In the heart of Africa, where all things come from, was a small boy. Now the boy came from a very poor family. He and his family worked hard all day to

survive. They did chores like, gathering water from the river, hunting gazelle in the savanna, tending the chickens, harvesting the fields, and by gathering

fruit from the jungle. Now this family, while poor, was a very happy family, for it did not matter to them if they had worldly possessions; they had each other

and that was enough. So in the nighttime, when the family was done with their chores, and they had eaten dinner, they would sing songs. They would sing

songs about loving one other, songs that told stories about Africa, and others. When they sang, they used their voices and nothing else. This was because

they were a poor family, so they did not have any instruments like guitars, harps, or any such thing. One day, however, the boy had an idea. What if he made

an instrument that his family could use? That would make them much happier he thought. At that thought, he heard the wind blow through the jungle, it was

a soft sweet tune. "What if I could make that?" the boy thought, "My family would be that much happier with it!"

So the next day, while he was out to get water from the river, he thought about how he would create the sound of wind. The river was a peaceful place,

where one could think and gather his thoughts. This is what the boy did. While he was thinking, he picked up a a reed and broke off the end and started to

chew on it. How could he make the sound of wind? As he was thinking about this, he started to blow on the reed. He stopped and listened. It sounded just

like the wind! An idea popped into his mind: what if he used more than just one? The sound would be even greater than just using one! So he gathered more

reeds and took the ends off. He had five reeds in all. With four of them he bit off shorter than one, and left the bigger one in the middle. It reminded the boy

of a hut, which he thought was very special indeed. He had to hurry, for his family might start to worry if he took too long, so he slapped some mud on his

the reeds all in order with a _slop!_ and hurriedly walked home with his new invention in his knapsack and jar of water in his hands.

When he arrived back home, he was extremely happy and couldn't wait for his family to see and hear his new invention! His mother saw the big grin on

his face and couldn't help but laugh, "_Mwana, _you sure are happy, what has lightened your heart today?" The boy laughed even more with happiness, "Oh

mama, I am just very happy to-day! I have a surprise for everybody after dinner!" At this he burst into laughter. His mother had never seen him so happy

before! So with a grin she laughed, "Well _Mwana_, I cannot wait to find out what this surprise is!" The boy hugged his mother and ran off. He had to check his

invention, just to make sure it was perfect. He arrived under his favorite tree, just a stone's throw from his hut, and took out the instrument that he had

created out of his knapsack. The mud had hardened, but it looked weird, disfigured. They boy was so happy, that he didn't notice. He could finally please his

father and make him proud. His brother hunted and his sisters made clothes and helped their mother cook, which made his father extremely proud. The boy,

however, hadn't done anything to make his father proud of him. "With this," thought the boy, "my _baba_ will be proud of me, just as he is of my brother and

sisters!" The boy was very contented with this indeed. However, what would he name it? It had to have a name. So he pondered this under his tree. For

awhile, he could not think of anything to call it. "Well," he thought, "it makes sounds like the wind by blowing on it." He thought about it a little more, then he

had it! "I will call it a _kwa-pigo upepo_! Because I use it by blowing the wind from me!" It was a genius idea the boy thought.

The sun said it's farewell in a purple-golden hue and welcomed the moon to take its place. The moon was full and bright. The heavens above twinkled with

stars shining. The boy and his family had finished their dinner, and their singing when the boy told them he had an announcement. "Everyone, I have a

surprise for you, to make you very happy, I give you the _kwa-pigo upepo_!" At this the boy pulled out the _kwa-pigo upepo_ and started to blow. Now for some

odd reason, the sound was different. It was screechy and annoying. His family covered their ears in dismay as they yelled over the _kwa-pigo upepo_, "Please

stop! It hurts!" The boy stopped immediately, he didn't understand. It had worked perfectly at the river, and under the tree, why not here? As he sat there his

brother and sisters teased him about his weird invention, "Next time, give us a warning so we can not be here to have our ears blown away!" they laughed.

His mother patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, "_Mwana_, it was a very thoughtful thing to do, it made me very happy." she kissed him on the head

and told the others to go to bed. Tonight was his night to put out the fire. He was still in thought about what had happened when he accidentally dropped the

_kwa-pigo upepo_ in the fire! At this the boy was done. He threw dirt on the fire to put it out and went straight to bed. "It'll all be over with and forgotten

tomorrow. _hakuna matata." _At this the boy drifted into dreamless sleep. With the moon out in her glory, and the stars at her side, the boy and his family slept

peacefully.

The next morning, it was the boy's turn to help his mother around the hut, while his sisters went with his brother to the jungle to gather fruit and hunt

small animals. The boy was very sad that his _kwa-pigo upepo_ had not worked. While he helped his mother sow patches on clothes he played with the twine

she used. He wrapped it around his fingers, playing with it. When he pulled a string of the twine tight and pulled it, it made a _twang_ sound. At this his spirits

and ears perked up, as he pulled it again with a _twang. _At this he got very excited and took several extra strings of twine and ran to put them in his

knapsack. He counted the pieces of string to be five. He could work with this, he thought. Then he went back to help his mother with the patchwork.

Afterwards he asked to be excused, and his mother taking pity upon him from the night before said yes, and he was off. He grabbed his knapsack and headed

to his thinking tree. This time he was going to carefully think things through. He took the twine out of his knapsack to inspect it. It looked good enough,

however he did not really know how twine should look for the purpose he was going to use them for. So he tried to wrap all five pieces of twine between to

fingers. However, when he tried to pull back the strings it was awkward for him and he could not really get the hang of pulling the strings. It was so awkward,

in fact, that he fell to the side trying to play his new invention. "Well," he said to himself, "I need to find a way to play this, but without using my fingers being

wrapped by the twine." He laid out the twine on his knapsack and started to think. Whatever could he use to keep the strings in place while he pulled them?

He let his eyes wander while his mind pondered this predicament. While he was thinking, he spotted an odd U-shaped limb that had fallen from his tree. What

an odd limb, he thought. At that moment, a light in the little boy's head went off! What if he tied two ends of a piece of twine in the middle of the U-shaped

limb? He tried it and it looked a lot like when he first twisted the twine in his own fingers! He had done it! So he tied all five pieces one the opposite ends of

the U-shaped limb. It looked odd at first, but after much inspection it looked perfect. The boy thought that he should test out his new invention, and so he

did. He picked his fingers at each piece of twine and each one made a _twang_ noise. This pleased the boy so much so, that he jumped up in delight. He had

done it! He couldn't wait to unveil it tonight, but a creeping doubt came into his mind: what if it didn't work? What if something happened to the sticks? The

boy stopped for a second, but didn't care. He wouldn't let a little bit of doubt to keep him from making his family happy and his father proud. "What should I

call it?" the boy said aloud. He thought about it and came with the name _Kinubi_. With the sun was starting to say her goodbye, he put his _kinubi_ gently in his

knapsack and walked carefully home.

With the sun, having said her goodbyes in a magenta and goldenrod farewell, the moon and her subjects came to rule over the night, lighting up the

heavens. The boy's family had just gotten done singing, when the boy said, "Hold on! I have something to show all of you!" and as he pulled out his invention

he said, "Behold! The _Kinubi!"_ At this, he started to pluck the strings, which sang out with _twangs_, resonating throughout the campfire. It sounded lovely, as

he plucked each individual string in no certain order. Then he tried to pull one string back just a bit further, to make a louder ending note, when, the string

broke with a _snap! _The boy just stared dumbly at the _kinubi_. Why had that happened? "That was beautiful _mwana_, but I'm going to have to ask you to find

something else to make. I'm sorry my love, but we need that twine to fix our clothes when they need to be fixed. It was a lovely song you played though."

His mother said. He hung his head and shook yes. His brother and sisters started to giggle, "Oh come now! Certainly you can make _something _that does not

break after it's first use! Silly boy, you should just stop now!" The boy felt his cheeks burn with fire, as hot tears streamed down his face. His mother scolded

his siblings and sent them to bed immediately. She then hugged and kissed him goodnight. All while this was happening, his grandfather had been watching

the boy very intently. "Well _mwan_, this seems to be a predicament no?" he asked. "I'll tell you what _mwan_, do not listen to your siblings, they do not see what

I see." "What do you see _babu_?" the boy asked, wiping the tears off of his face. "I see a very bright and talented young man who is trying to please his family

and father. I will say this: I never, ever, want to see you give up _mwan_, you are talented young man. Do not let others bring you down, just because your

ideas are different than theirs. Everyone is different, and that is what makes us special." The boy's grandfather smiled and patted him on the head,

"Goodnight young one, think about what I've said, and try again. Never give up." The boy smiled, and went off to bed. That night he really thought about

what his grandfather had said about not giving up, to keep trying. He was not going to give up. Not now. Not ever.

As the moon parted goodbye with the heavens, the sun took her place with a golden morning. At this she awoke all of the creatures of Africa with a gentle

feel of light. The boy was up when the sun and moon exchanged their greetings, ready to begin a new day. Today was his day to tend to the chickens, and to

gather the harvest with his father. So he stirred the chickens, getting them ready for their breakfast. As he fed them, he was in deep thought. What could he

make next? He certainly couldn't try and make another _kwa-pigo upepo, _much less another _kinubi._ He had to come up with something new. Something that

no one had ever even thought of. He had to think of something special. While he was thinking he was walking with a stick in his hand, dragging it along the

fence that held the chickens. _Clink_! "Well," _Clonk_! "I wonder what could I make?" _Clunk_! At the last clunk, a thought went through his head. All of those logs,

holding the fence, what if they were all put together and hit upon? He would be able to make all assortments of music! However, one thought stopped him in

his tracks: his father would never let him take down the fence to just make music, how else could they keep the chickens safe? Surely he could find

something. He put it out of his mind, and kept his attention on the chickens. Once he was done taking care of them, he headed to the fields with his father, to

reap the harvest. It was a very plentiful harvest. So much so, that his father called for a feast that night, to celebrate such a great harvest. So the boy was

sent by his mother to go to the jungle and gather fruit for the feast. He knew of one spot where he could find many delicious fruits. So he started off to the

jungle. He took his stick from tending the chickens earlier that day with him. On his way, he had time to ponder on how to change his idea from a thought, to

reality. When he arrived at the spot where all the tasty fruit was, he sat down on a tree root. If he had some sticks in a row to hit upon, with something

holding them underneath, he could do it. He had noticed, when he hit the fence, that the bigger the log was, the lower the sound was. While he thought

about this he saw some sticks on the ground. "I wonder if I could use these?" he thought aloud. He gathered them up and counted seven. He got out his knife

and stripped all the bark off and flattened them. He then poked two holes in each stick, one on each end. He had some small tether in his knapsack, so he

tied them all together, in order from biggest to smallest. Something did not seem right, it looked like a washboard his mother used to clean their clothes. He

needed something to cradle them. So they could be held and played at the same time. He looked up at the foliage and could tell that it was almost time for

the sun to say her goodbyes to the heavens. So he gently put his half-finished invention in his knapsack. Then he gathered all the fruit needed for the feast in

the basket his mother had given him, and briskly walked home.

When he arrived home, the sun and moon were greeting each other on opposite sides of the sky. Tonight, the moon was in a crescent form, like a cradle.

With the stars at her back, she began her nightly reign of the heavens. Then the boy had a sudden idea. So he ran inside the hut, handed his mother the

basket full of fruit and sprinted to his thinking tree. "I'm sorry my friend, but I need your bark for my creation." So he cut off a sizable amount of bark in one

long, tedious cut. So as to not waste the bark, he cut very carefully. When he was done, the bark was like a hollow boat, or a baby cradle. He took out his

invention and placed it vertically across the bark. It held perfectly. He used what little rope he had left to tie it all together. When he was done he inspected

his work. "It is as big as me!" the boy exclaimed. He saw two small sticks and decided to test out his invention. Nervously, he hit the smallest of boards and

received a resonating _clink! _He jumped up in joy! He had done it finally! After much hard work, he had done it! He looked over and saw that the feast was

about to start, and ran, while carrying his invention, home.

After the very delicious feast, the family sang a little, since their bellies were to full to sing much. The young boy got up and said, "I have a surprise for all

of you tonight!". His siblings looked at each other with doubt, while his grandfather smiled. The boy ran into the hut to go get his invention. He emerged with

it, and his family all gasped. They were so shocked to see something so big created by the small boy. He sat it down, a distance away from the fire, just to be

careful, and he took out his banging sticks and started to play. It was an upbeat tune, that had all of them tapping their feet. When he was done they all got

up and applauded him! He was so happy as his dad scooped him up in his arms and hugged him. "I am so proud of you _mwana!" _His grandfather was just as

happy for him. They all gathered around him to hug him and to tell him how proud the were of him. When they had all settled down the boy's grandfather

asked him, "Well boy, you've had names for all of your inventions, what about this one?" That was right. He hadn't even thought of a name for it. "What

should I name it?" he asked them all. They had no idea. His grandfather said, "You should name it something no one has ever thought of. Ever!" At this, a

weird word, that wasn't even a word popped into his head. "_Xylo!_ I will call it a Xylo!" And so, the young boy had created the very first Xylophone.


End file.
